Gov. Mike Dunleavy is going to end his second term the way he began his first. Clueless about how to work with the Legislature. Clueless about how to work with people who don’t agree with him. Clueless about what it takes to be governor.
Read More
Late Monday, after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed the pension bill that he was using as a bargaining chip in the gas pipeline tax cut campaign, the Anchorage Daily News reported, “With the veto, it is unclear whether lawmakers will move forward with legislation intended to give tax breaks to project developers.”
That makes it more likely that Dunleavy will call a special session to try to get the tax break approved.
Read More
It will not surprise you that Sen. Dan Sullivan, conscious of what happened to Sen. Bill Cassidy for daring to try to think, is OK with Trump putting his name on the greenback.
Had Joe Biden done this, Sullivan would have snarled. But because it’s Trump whose name will be on our money, Sullivan purred his approval.
Read More
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson, who claims her inexperience with government is a big plus, has no clue about the confirmation process created in Alaska’s Constitution.
She went on right-wing radio in Fairbanks Friday to claim at length and with great conviction that legislators had no business in refusing to confirm Stephen Cox as attorney general.
Read More
Gov. Mike Dunleay wasted no time Thursday creating an unnecessary new state job for Stephen Cox after the Legislature voted 31-29 to reject Cox as attorney general.
By inventing an expensive new position as “counsel to the governor,” a superfluous job that the state doesn’t need, Dunleavy is using state money to give Cox time to find another job.
Read More
Anchorage Sen. Matt Claman, who still claims to be running for governor, long blocked legislative attempts to close the Hilcorp loophole, offering a wide variety of lame excuses.
Claman has also blocked plans to raise the age of consent from 16 to 18, offering excuses.
On Thursday, it appears he will vote to confirm Temporary Attorney General Stephen Cox, despite Cox’s shortcomings. I’m sure Claman will have an excuse or two.
Read MoreDoes the secret Glenfarne contract require that the state has to pay money to Glenfarne if the Alaska LNG project folds and the company wants out? Why is it secret?
Read More
Don’t be surprised if President Donald Trump begins claiming again that China might pay for the Golden Age of Alaska LNG project.
That doesn’t mean it will happen. It will be like the imaginary Trump phone, the Trump health care plan and the Trump golf championships.
Over the past year-and-a-half Trump and his supplicants have falsely claimed that Japan and Korea would provide the money to build the pipeline.
Read More
The North Slope Borough is planning with private operators to create the world’s largest natural gas power plant near Prudhoe Bay, which would generate electricity for industry, data centers and potentially a power line to the Railbelt.
Borough Mayor Josh Patkotak and three officials from Twenty First Century Utilities gave a presentation on this massive project at CERA Week in March in Texas.
Read MoreThe rubber-stamp board of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is likely to vote Wednesday to approve a $190 million ANWR spending plan that was posted on the state public notice website Sunday.
There is nothing on the AIDEA website that explains the $190 million spending plan and nothing that explains how and when to testify. There is nothing that justifies AIDEA’s secret decision to bid on more tracts in ANWR in the current lease sale aimed at the private sector.
Read More